Friday, January 29, 2010

January 2010 Carnival of Children's Literature

Welcome everyone! The Amazing Carnival of Children's Literature is back!! People shared their favorite posts of the past month or so, many with winter themes, some not. All are worth reading or listening to.

Here's a selection of fun reviews of children's books, some of which I've read, and quite a few I haven't read. Another pile of books for my room full of to-be-read books, groan...

Annette Berlin presents a book review of a children's cook book at her blog, Craft Stew. She says, "I drool over the children’s books from DK publishing. I’m crazy about their full color photographs, clear text and interesting topics. Cook It Together, a new DK cookbook for kids, did not disappoint."

Kathy Bloomfield shares some reviews of children's books that echo this theme, Bal Tashchit: Do Not Be Wasteful at her blog forwordsbooks: kids books that matter, saying, "This is a blog connecting secular children's literature to the Jewish value of Bal Tashchit-do not be wasteful in honor of the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the birthday of the trees, being celebrated on January 30." Very timely and these are lovely books.

Jeff Barger shares a fun nonfiction title, Secret of the Puking Penguins...and More! posted at his blog, NC Teacher Stuff, saying, "Nothing says winter wonderland better than puking penguins. This book has the perfect title to attract elementary and middle school nonfiction fans. Each article is a great example of how researchers apply the scientific method in their studies."

Mary Ann Scheuer introduces us to what sounds like a delightful book, Rain Stomper, at her blog, Great Kid Books, saying, "Endless days of rain can dampen everyone's spirits. If you need cheering up, check out Rain Stomper, a book full of energy and optimism as one girl shows us that the parade will go on, rain or shine!"

Kate Coombs at her blog Book Aunt, has a special treat just for meee. Okay, okay, I'll share. It's a wonderful blog post talking about the various translations of Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen and four recent picture book editions. The covers are beautiful and the post is so thoughtful and insightful about the problems and issues of translation. Thank you, Kate!

Kevin Hodgson has a brief review of Scott Westerfeld's new book: The alternative history of Leviathan posted at his blog Kevin's Meandering Mind, saying, "I look at the book Leviathan and its use of alternative history. Plus, the book is a great read-aloud story for middle school kids." He also shares the book's trailer. Looks cool!

Tricia Stohr-Hunt shares some fun books at National Puzzle Month - Great Reads at her blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect, saying, "January is national puzzle month, so I wrote this post about books for those who love puzzles." I didn't know about National Puzzle Month and I love puzzles. I learn something new every minute, sometimes.

Jen Robinson reviews a winter-themed YA book that contains three stories by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Scott Westerfeld, Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances posted at her blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, saying, "I couldn't resist submitting it, because it fits so well with the Winter Wonderland theme."

I'm always envious when I hear about authors visiting with children in schools or libraries. I went to school before this started happening, and I would have loved any encounter with an author!

The YA author Crissa-Jean Chappell shares an account of Scott Westerfeld, Alex Flinn, and Crissa herself, speaking to teen readers during various events during Teen Read Week posted at her blog, total constant order. Oh for a photo of the teens who wore top hats, waistcoats and pocket watches to Westerfeld's talk!

Another great development is the succession of wonderful interviews with authors, illustrators and publishers that you can find around the Kidlitosphere.

Crissa-Jean Chappell shares a video interview with herself about her writing process by Kathy Erskine, another teen author at five questions

Lee Wind shares three wonderful interviews, saying, "I'm in with three wonderful pre-SCBWI Winter conference interviews with the fantastic author Jacqueline Woodson, the fantabulous art director Laurent Linn, and the fascinating literary manager/producer Eddie Gamarra - they shared so much great stuff, even including their votes in the hot chocolate vs. eggnog winter drink showdown!" Do look for more great stuff on his blog, I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?

Sally Apokedak, at Whispers of Dawn, shares an interview with Shannon and Dean Hale, authors of the recently released graphic novel, Calamity Jack, and with Nathan Hale, who illustrated the book. I'm still waiting for my copy of this book to come in the mail and this interview makes me so impatient!! I adored Rapunzel's Revenge, and indeed all of Shannon's books.

Franki and Mary Lee share a wonderful round-up of tributes to the stupendous first Ambassador of Children's Literature, the one and only Jon Scieszka at THANK YOU, JON SCIESZKA! posted at A Year of Reading, saying, "The most exciting thing that happened on our blog in January was the Thank You Party we hosted for out-going Children's Literature Ambassador Jon Scieszka." This is a whole carnival in itself! Enjoy.

Heidi Estrin shares a fun podcast, The Big Reveal: 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Awards posted at her blog, The Book of Life, saying, "this is the blog post/podcast episode announcing the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award winners, which always takes place in January, so that's my excuse for calling it a winter wonderland event." Do enjoy listening!

Plus poets and illustrators share their works with their admirers all over the 'net:

The illustrator and author Elizabeth O. Dulemba shares a great story at Operation Write Home at her blog, dulemba.com, saying, "This one isn't so much about reading as it is about writing. It's a very cool thing." I agree, and it gives me the warm fuzzies too!

Elizabeth also shared another post on the newest tech toy, Apple's iPad. She and other illustrators are already dreaming up picture books for the iPad!

Deborah Freedman shares a wonderful poem about snow along with one of her beautiful illustrations of a snowy scene at Time for Bed on her blog, writes with pictures.

Here's another snowy poem from Gregory K., The End of a Perfect Day in the Snow at his blog, GottaBook, saying, "Boy, I didn't post much Carnival-worthy in January, but at least this fits the Winter Wonderland theme!" Personally I think his blog is always worth reading!

Susan Stephenson celebrates reading aloud in What's So Great About Children's Literature? at her Australian blog, The Book Chook, saying, "Jenny, it's summer where I live, so my post answers the question a friend asked me the other day,"What's so great about children's literature anyway?""

Susan Kusel has a great idea, Write it down, at the stupendous Booklights group blog, saying, "Do you keep a record of what your kids read? How about what you read? Give it a try. Write it down."

Reading challenges are everywhere but this is a really special one:

I'm unsurprised to find that Terry Doherty has joined this reading challenge, People of Color Reading Challenge is Important. It really is important and if I didn't have a major research project with piles of books to read swamping me, I'd join her! I'll keep an eye on her blog, Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, for her reports on her reading. As she reminds us "reading is a perfect thing to do on a cold winter's day!"

What a brilliant carnival! I had hoped to contribute but life took over this week. This is what I would have contributed:http://www.playingbythebook.net/2010/01/29/winter-starlight/ or http://www.playingbythebook.net/2010/01/18/polar-play/ - both about picture books with a wintry theme.

Thank you for putting this all together, Jenny. You are a blessing! I will not be able to get to all the blogs on the list until Monday, but I have read through the list and it all looks wonderful. I wanted to wish you a restful weekend and express my gratitude for your starting the year off with excellence. I hope I can do as a good a job as you did when it is my turn to host the Carnival in April.

About this Blog

I will be posting occasional posts on the history of children's literature and old children's books, from the Middle Ages to the present day from Europe, England and America. Yes, children's books are that old and I want to share them with you. The links above are to resources on the Web for learning more about the history of children's literature. Feel free to comment and ask questions and I'll answer them as best as I can.

About Me

I'm a rare book librarian and a specialist in the history of children's literature. I kept all my children's books from my childhood and kept collecting more. I grew up back when you could still find wonderful old books in used bookstores quite cheaply so my collection ranges from 1800 to the present and if I ever get it unpacked, there probably are over 10,000 children's books. Which doesn't count all the other books in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical novels, and history of children's literature....